


Love's a Fragile Little Flame

by shareyoursunshines



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: James Bond AU, M/M, Sara is Fed Up, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 23:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14579754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shareyoursunshines/pseuds/shareyoursunshines
Summary: Shane knew that when he took the job of Quartermaster for the CIA’s research and development department – affectionately nicknamed Q-Branch - that he would have to deal with cocky agents - especially the Double 0 agents, the best the CIA had to offer. M, the head of the CIA, had warned him that most of the agents could be rebellious and uncooperative; he just wasn’t anticipating Agent Ryan Bergara.





	Love's a Fragile Little Flame

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has been such a long time coming oh my god.  
> Shoutout to Kait (spookyboybergara ) for putting up with me and this fic for months and for beta-ing <3
> 
> Title from I Know Places by Taylor Swift.

Shane continued to fiddle with the gun on his desk as he pretended to ignore Agent Bergara sauntering towards him. The agent stopped in front of Shane, waiting for the other man to look up at him, fully aware of the eyes of the entirety of Q-branch on his back.

“You do realise, Agent Bergara, that you can merely leave your equipment with another member of my staff? Make this process easier for both us.” Shane drawled, finally looking up into the agent’s face, ensuring he didn’t let his eyes linger too long on the man’s body in a suit.

“Ah, but then I wouldn’t get to see the joy on your face at me finally returning your equipment unscathed.” Ryan grinned as he held out two halves of a gun to the exasperated Quartermaster. “And, as I’ve told you before; call me Ryan”. Shane repressed a grin at the man’s audacity and instead adopted a frown.

“How the fuck did you even break a gun in half?” Ryan had always been bizarrely accident prone with his equipment, but this was beyond even Shane. “You realise this gun was coded specifically to your handprint and was ridiculously expensive to make?”

Ryan had the decency to look a little sheepish before grinning a little. “Well you see, there was a French model, and then a gunfight and then a whip and then –.” Shane cut him off with a laugh and an eye roll.

“Don’t you have a debriefing to get to, Agent Bergara?” Ryan smirked as he backed away from Shane’s desk.

“Only if you’re the one doing it, big guy”, he turned around and threw a wink over his shoulder at Shane as he left the room.

Shane felt a blush creep over his face as his second-in-command Sara approached his desk, two cups of tea in her hands. She handed one to Shane, a laugh playing on her lips.

“Shut up.” Shane muttered, accepting the offered cup and bringing it quickly to his mouth to hide his blush. Sara merely laughed in return, sauntering back to her desk.

********************************************************************************  
Shane knew that when he took the job of Quartermaster for the CIA’s research and development department – affectionately nicknamed Q-Branch - that he would have to deal with cocky agents - especially the Double 0 agents, the best the CIA had to offer. M, the head of the CIA, had warned him that most of the agents could be rebellious and uncooperative; he just wasn’t anticipating Agent Ryan Bergara. 

Bergara was the agency’s top operative; deadly in the field, he had never once missed his mark. He was also charming and funny and completely and utterly Shane’s type.

Shane knew that not every agent appreciated having a voice in their ear on missions. Agent Bergara was no exception. Everyone that had attempted to act as Bergara’s handler had been unceremoniously dumped at some point during the mission as the agent would invariably ditch his earpiece at some point. 

Three months after he got the job, Shane had had enough. He was fed up of constantly making new earpieces for an agent who clearly didn’t appreciate the hard work that went into them--so he got himself assigned as Agent Bergara’s handler on missions. It meant he had to drop some of his side projects, but it was worth it to be able to annoy the man who was costing his department so much money.

The first few missions were no different. Bergara got bored, or got fed up of having a voice in his ear, or got a ridiculous idea into his head. So, he would dump his ear bud. But the fifth mission was different. Bergara was on a simple assassination. An escaped general from eastern Europe who was due to be on trial for vicious war crimes. It had been decided it was simply easier to take the man out to prevent him from revealing vital secrets on the stand. Bergara was stuck for 48 hours staking out the man’s apartment and so Shane was stuck too. It wasn’t until hour 6 when Shane mentioned the movie he had seen that weekend that the pair actually started talking. Shane was surprised to find Agent Bergara had an interest in films. He was surprised to find the man had an interest in anything outside of work. By all accounts, he kept to himself and didn’t usually socialise with the other agents. Everyone knew that Bergara had a bad history with losing people he got close to - his last girlfriend had been a double agent and he’d lost his parents before he was a teenager. Bergara was usually sure to keep his distance, the ultimate professional. Shane wasn’t sure if it was the movie or the length of time they had to be on the phone for that made Ryan start talking to him. Hearing Ryan laugh at his joke about Jaws wasn’t the moment Shane fell in love with him, but it was certainly close. 

******************************************************************

The first time that Ryan walked into Q-Branch the day after completing a mission, carrying his latest pile of paperwork, Shane wasn’t quite sure what to do. He watched as Ryan approached the frankly enormous desk Shane had at the front of the room, pausing right in front of it. 

“Apparently if I don’t complete my paperwork this time, Helen will be forced to stab me with a stiletto.” Ryan gave Shane a crooked grin, clearly hoping that the other man would pick up on his unasked question. Shane felt a smirk crawl across his face and leaned back in his seat, gesturing at Ryan to continue. Ryan let out a small huff of laughter, shaking his head slightly before continuing. 

“I don’t actually have my own office and the double-0 shared space is too quiet. So I figured I would come down and share your ridiculously large desk.” Shane continued to smirk, watching Ryan stand awkwardly in front of him, clutching his paperwork to his chest. As Ryan shifted ever so slightly, his awkwardness shining through, Shane realised that this was Ryan in front of him instead of Agent Bergara. Agent Bergara breezed through life, letting people fall into his wake, charmed by his smile. Ryan was standing in front of him asking to share a desk because he didn’t want to be by himself. If Shane didn’t know Ryan could kill him in 50 ways using a paperclip he would almost call it cute. 

“Sure thing, just let me…” Shane shifted things on his desk around, clearing a space for Ryan as one of his underlings brought up a chair for the agent. “Take a seat, little guy.”  
Ryan wheezed out a laugh at the nickname, placing all his things in the space and collapsing into the chair. Shane grinned at him, eyes dragging down Ryan’s arms in his t-shirt before forcing himself to concentrate on his work again. 

It seemed that giving Ryan permission once had opened the floodgates. It quickly became known that if Ryan couldn’t be found elsewhere in the base, he would be in Q-Branch, charming the underlings in Q-Branch and shooting the breeze with Shane. He grew quickly accustomed to the agent crowding his space, sharing his desk and making him laugh.

*********************************************************************

It was 1am and Shane was still at work. He had been improving the firewalls across the whole of the CIA since he was hired five months ago and tonight he had been hit was inspiration. He was just finishing up when an alarm started blaring on his phone. Cursing quietly, he blindly fished it out of his pocket, his frown quickly turning to a smirk when he saw what exactly the alert was. The security system in his apartment had picked up an intruder and his cameras were streaming the footage of a very familiar figure skulking around his living room. Still smirking, Shane dialled a familiar number, and while he was waiting for it to connect he pulled up the feed for his apartment’s cameras on his laptop screen. Shane watched as Ryan pulled out his phone, a grin lighting up his face as he saw Shane’s name on the display.

“Stay away from the windows and doors if you want to stay alive, little guy.” Shane drawled when Ryan picked up the phone. “My system isn’t designed to stop people getting in, it’s designed to stop them from getting out.”

“Damn, I thought it was weirdly easy to get in here. Guess I should have expected something like this from our resident genius”. Ryan turned and grinned into Shane’s security camera. “Got any good movies I can watch while I wait for you to finish up at work?”

Shane laughed, his mind racing at the thought of Ryan hanging out his place.

“I’ll be home in 20 minutes. Pick something on Netflix. There’s popcorn in the kitchen.” He instructed the agent, quickly hanging up the phone and thumping his head down onto his desk. Sara was never going to let him live this down.

By the time Shane got back to his apartment, Ryan had popcorn sitting on the coffee table and bizarre true crime show queued up on Netflix. Slumping down next to the agent on the couch, Shane wordlessly accepted the proffered beer, feeling himself relax into the couch in Ryan’s company. The two sat wordless watching the show for a while, sharing the popcorn in a comfortable silence that Shane hadn’t expected to experience. Sitting there, Shane could tell the difference between Agent Bergara and Ryan. Agent Bergara was always put together, hair in place, smirk on his face. Whereas Ryan was softer, his body language looser, his hair haphazard. Agent Bergara famously didn’t have friends or loved ones. Ryan had broken into Shane’s apartment to hang out on his couch. Shane wasn’t quite sure what to do with Ryan. But he had a feeling that this instance of home invasion might become a regular occurrence.

It was 3am by the time Ryan decided to leave. He helped Shane move the empty popcorn bowl and empty beer bottles to the kitchen, before the pair walked towards the door.

“You know you can just text next time?” She asked him, a smile gracing his lips. “Rather than risking life and limb just to hang out?”

Ryan laughed in response.

“Ah, but where’s the fun in that?” He joked as he opened the door. “See you at work, Shane.”

Shane echoed his goodbye as the door shut. He checked his watch as he made his way to the bedroom. Five hours till he had to get to work. He was going to be a zombie tomorrow, all because he just couldn’t say no to Ryan Bergara.

*****************************************************************************

After the ninth time that Ryan broke into his apartment, Shane caved and wrote him into the security system. Ryan seemed to take that as an invitation to come over whenever he liked. Which, if Sara was to be believed, it basically was. Slowly but surely, Ryan started to invade Shane’s space. His DVDs filled Shane’s shelves, mission reports were strewn about the coffee table, his favourite beer was in the fridge. Shane had started to notice a difference in him. On missions he was still Agent Bergara, but on his down time, Ryan spent most of his time in Q-branch, completing his mission debriefs and helping test new equipment. Shane’s crush blossomed so quickly that he was ridiculously far gone before he even realised what was going on.

The pair were in the middle of a debate on the existence of Bigfoot when Shane realised how in love with Ryan he was. Ryan was busy spluttering with laughter at Shane’s insistence that Bigfoot was based in reality, and all Shane could think about was how much he wanted to kiss him. His breath caught in his throat and he couldn’t breathe for a second.

“Dude.” Ryan’s voice broke him out of his daze. “You okay? You completely zoned out on me  
there?”

Shane forced a smile on his face as he tried to create a cover story that would satisfy a man who practically read people for a living.

“Yeah. Yeah. I was just thinking.” Shane paused, his eyes roaming over his desk for inspiration. “How would you feel about an exploding pen?” He grabbed some half completed plans from his desk, thrusting them at Ryan, who took them with a slight laugh.

“I thought you said an exploding pen was a ‘waste of resources’?” He raised his eyebrows at Shane, excitement clear on his face.

“Yeah, well.” Shane paused, watching Ryan’s face as he studied the plans. “Sometimes things change.”

********************************************************************

Shane watched the way Ryan threw back his head in laughter, the warm lights of the bar casting shadow down his neck. For now, it was just the two of them in the bar booth, their coworkers having dispersed to get drinks or dance or hustle unsuspecting civilians at pool. The pair were sitting close together to hear each other over the bar’s music and Shane was hyper-aware that he and Ryan were pressed together from hip to knee. Shane’s arm was stretched along the back of the booth, fingers periodically brushing Ryan’s shoulder when the other man leaned back.

“You are so full of shit, Madej.” Ryan grinned at Shane, and Shane couldn’t help but grin back. Ryan’s grin turned soft and a little unsure and Shane’s breath caught in his throat. He could swear Ryan’s eyes just darted to his lips. He could feel a tension rising between them, could feel Ryan tense up slightly from the way they were pressed together. Shane opened his mouth, unsure of what he was going to say, but knowing he had to say something, couldn’t let this moment pass him by. 

“Shane! Tell Sara that she’s completely and utterly wrong and E.T. is definitely evil.” Jen, one of the other agents, threw herself onto the bench in the booth, dragging Sara in beside her. Ryan jumped away from Shane, his gaze dropping to the table. Shane turned to look at Sara and Jen, ignoring the look on Sara’s face as he answered Jen’s question. She knew him well enough to know that something had happened. When Jen turned her focus to Ryan, drawing him into the debate, Shane took the opportunity to give Sara a small shake of his head. She tilted her head in response, silently trying to figure out what was going on. Shane gave a half shrug in response. 

“Jen, he loved them!” Ryan’s outburst interrupted their silent conversation and Shane barked out a surprised laugh at the determination in the younger man’s voice. He turned his gaze back to Ryan and Jen, slipping into the conversation, mind still reeling for whatever had almost happened. 

******************************************************************************

Shane’s jaw clenched as Ryan’s laugh filtered through the speakers on his computer. The sound was clear, despite Ryan being halfway around the world, (Shane’s equipment was top-notch thank you very much) and it contrasted with the slightly grainy image from the security cameras in the hotel ballroom Ryan was scoping out. 

Dressed in a tuxedo, he effortlessly blended in to the crowd at the charity gala, pretending to network in order to get close to their target. Glancing at the screen, Shane could see Ryan flirting with a blonde woman and he swallowed, directing his attention back to the plans in front of him - he was convinced he could make exploding coins a thing. 

Sara approached his desk, rolling her eyes at the diagrams that littered it, reaching over to mute the microphone on his desk, ensuring Ryan couldn’t hear the conversation. 

“Are we just going to keep pretending that there isn’t something going on with you two?” Sara raised her eyebrows at him, watching a blush rush across his face. 

“Yup.” Shane avoided Sara’s gaze, eyes locked on his work. 

Sara gave him a soft look, lowering her voice to make sure that no one else in the office could hear her. 

“You could just ask him out you know? I know it’s scary but-” Ryan’s voice from the speakers cut Sara off. 

Shane internally gave a sigh of relief at the interruption. 

“Duty calls, Sara. We’ll talk later. Or not.” Sara rolled her eyes as she walked back to her own desk, leaving Shane to answer Ryan’s call.

*********************************************************************************  
Shane laughed into his mic, as Ryan complained about the lack of guards in the corridor he was sneaking down.

“One fight Shane. That’s all I ask. It doesn’t even have to be that good.” Ryan whined, the smile evident in his voice.

“Sorry all your missions can’t be fights on top of trains and wooing beautiful women” Shane joked. “Sometimes sneaky infiltration is what we need in the spy game.”

“Shut up Shane.” Ryan laughed. “God, I can’t believe I-.” A loud explosion dominated the feed, cutting off the rest of his sentence. Static sprung up where there had previously been quiet laughter.

“Bergara, come in.” Shane commanded, all trace of laughter gone. Q-branch went still at their leader’s tone, clear to everyone something at gone wrong. “Agent, answer me.” Shane’s hands were clenched into fists, his knuckles white with the tension. He quickly barked at his team to pull up CCTV images of Ryan’s last location before turning back to his mic.

“Ryan, please.” He begged, ears straining, desperate to hear something that would indicate survival.

“Shane.” Sara quietly approached his desk. “Images show there was an explosion. The whole building is practically rubble. They aren’t expecting any survivors.” She reached out towards him, unsure if he would accept comfort in his fragile state. “I called M. She’s on her way down.”

Shane ignored her, pulling up CCTV from the streets surrounding Ryan’s last known location. He had to have escaped. One of the cameras would have caught him leaving the building. He had to have made it out.

Shane didn’t look up when M entered Q-branch. He didn’t look up when M attempted to talk to him. He focused all his energy on searching the CCTV, desperate to find a glimpse of Ryan somewhere. He hacked hospital records, hunted though clinic records and, finally, desperately, searched through morgue records. There was no record of Ryan anywhere. When Shane finally dragged his attention away from the screen, it had been almost 24 hours since Ryan had gone missing. He dropped his attention to the file that had been placed beside him at some point, and his heart dropped. 

It was the mission report. All it needed was his signature, and Agent Ryan Bergara was officially dead, the mission officially classed as a failure. Shane swallowed, his hand hovering over the pen on his desk, unable to pick it up, unable to admit he had lost Ryan before he had ever really had him. He took one shuddering breath, struggling to keep down the grief that struggled to overwhelm him. Quickly, before he could really process it, Shane grabbed the pen, ripped open the file and scribbled his name on the line at the bottom. He threw the pen back on his desk, grabbed his jacket and practically ran out of the building, desperate to get home.

Home wasn’t much better than the office. Everywhere Shane turned, he could see Ryan. He stood paused in the doorway, eyes drifting from Ryan’s jacket on the couch, empty bottles of his beer on the counter, his favourite DVD in front of the tv. Suddenly, Shane couldn’t take it anymore. He staggered to his bedroom, collapsing onto his bed as the tears overtook him.

**************************************************************************

It was three months before people at work stopped tiptoeing around Shane. Losing an agent was never easy, and everyone knew how close Ryan and Shane had been. Sometimes, Shane forgot. Not for long. But for just long enough that he would lift his head to catch Ryan’s attention and he would be hit with the grief all over again. It was exhausting. 

It was 3am before Shane managed to persuade himself to leave work, dreading leaving the buzz of the office for the silence of his apartment. His hands were curled in his pockets as he trudged back to his flat, his thoughts muddled, too heartbroken for his brain to fixate on any one idea. 

The second he opened his door, Shane knew something was wrong. He could see a light spilling into his hallway from the kitchen, a light that he knew he had switched off before he left for work. Shane grabbed the golf umbrella he kept by his front door, easing down the hall, ready to confront whoever was hiding in his kitchen. He stepped into the room, holding the umbrella like a baseball bat, ready to swing, dropping it instead when he saw the man leaning against his counter. 

“Hi”. Ryan grinned at him, the gaunt lines of his face betraying the hardships his attitude was attempting to cover. 

Shane was moving before he realised he was doing it. He crossed the kitchen in three strides, taking Ryan’s face in his hands and kissing him. Ryan kissed back, equally enthusiastic, hands gripping Shane’s hips, pulling the taller man into him, desperate for contact. Shane pulled away enough to breathe, his eyes raking over the smaller man’s face, drinking in the sight of him . 

“Guess you missed me, huh, big guy?” Ryan joked, a soft smile playing on his lips as he stared up at him. 

“You should see the amount of work I managed with no one bothering me”. Shane joked back, mirroring the agent’s smile. 

Ryan’s laugh was the best thing Shane had ever heard.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on tumblr demonsandthebois 


End file.
